Dying Dryer

We had a bit of a shock when we got our most recent electric bill. Back in June it was little the it doubled for the July bill and doubled again for this August bill. That did not seem right at all. We had not been using the air conditioning hardly at all so we couldn't think of what could be causing this huge of a jump. So we started thinking through every appliance that we have and when I ran the dryer and Brian watched the meter - we found it. I can not believe how absolutely fast the meter was running. Unfortunately I am working on potty training Connor, which requires a load of laundry a day, plus usually one other. Then soon with the baby, I'll be doing cloth diapers which will be laundry every other day. We definitely can not be without a dryer. But we decided to be financially friendly and we are not going to get another one until we can save up for it. So for the time being, we hung two clothes lines and I have started hanging laundry. Too bad this didn't happen at the beginning of the summer. I am hoping for as many nice days as possible so that we can keep this up as long as possible. On a positive note, it is really nice and uplifting to look outside and see the clothes hanging on the line. I can see the draw and enjoyment of it.

Angela's Birthday

Angela has gotten to have a bit of a drawn out 8th birthday. 8, WOW, it is sure making Brian and I feel old. She has received cards off and on over this past week, which has been making mail time a lot of fun. Then she got to open up some presents on the 25th, the 27th and the 28th. We made a breakfast casserole called "French Toast Bake" for the day of her birthday. She got to have a yummy dinner on the day of her birthday, but she did not do her special birthday dinner until the day after her birthday. She chose to have white chicken lasagna. We really like that meal, but when I pulled it out of the oven she looks at it and says, "That is not what I wanted. I wanted those triangle ravioli things." Oops, I thought it was kind of funny that she had asked for one thing, but was thinking of something else. She said it was okay, because she really likes the lasagna too. We will just have to make ravioli soon. She really enjoyed getting a new ken doll, clothes for ken and barbie, a watch, many cute new back to school outfits, Boogle, a CD, an alarm clock, a lamp (which she said would allow her to read all night), some jewelry and a paper doll set with a decoratable house. I have a big book of birthday cake designs and I let Angela pick whatever cake she would like. This year she picked a "French Fry" cake. I used funfetti cake as the base layer and then pound cake as the french fries. We used white frosting as tartar sauce and red tinted frosting as ketchup. The kids thought it was a lot of fun dipping their "french fries" in the different sauces. Now the topper for Angela's birthday day is that she is a year older and gets to start the 3rd grade this next week. We drove by the school yesterday and she said, "Goodbye school, I'll see you on Tuesday." She is super excited for the new school year (more about that to come).

Pod Swaddler

A few weeks ago I posted an entry for a free giveaway for a baby swaddler called a Pod Swaddler (see picture above). True to my form and my lack of luck I did not win the giveaway. This did not stop me. I thought that these swaddlers were way too cute. So, I unpacked my sewing machine, got the pattern and some fabric, and have been enjoying sewing up some of these. I have a total of six, some to give away and some to keep. Here is a view of the different fabrics

that I used. I just love the versatility of picking out fun fabrics. It was hard to not go overboard on spending money. Here is a view of my finished pod. Now the only problem is finding out if they work like they should. My first one should go out into the mail within the next day or two to a mom with a brand new baby. Hopefully her feedback will be good. Then in just a few more weeks we will have our own little one to try it out on.

Family Update

It has been a while since I just talked about the day to day so here it is.

Brian:
Things have been going well for Brian. He is working about 2 hours south of us near the WI/IL border. He said the work is fairly easy, but at least it is work. He is still working longs days Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A shorter day on Thursdays. And then he is off on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It really gives him 3 1/2 days at home, which is nice for the kids and I. He has had a few projects around the house, but nothing really big. In a few weeks though, he will hit the ground running with a big one. He will be installing an island with a diswasher and a bi-level counter in our kitchen. I love his sence of adventure, he has never done anything like this, but he said what the heck - lets do it. It will take framing, sheetrocking, mudding, painting, plumbing and then all the instalations. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully I will remember to get a posting about that at the time.
Angela:
Angela will be turning 8 in eleven days. To say she is excited is an understatement. I don't think she is excited to get older as that requires more responsibilities, but she is excited for presents, cake and special birthday meals. She has changed her mind about what she wants at least 20 different times. I think that is part of the excitement and fun. School starts for her on Sept. 1st. I can't believe she will be in the 3rd grade. She is getting so old, but what does that make Brian and I? She is definately ready for the making friends part of school and the P.E., music, library and recess parts of school. But, I don't think she is quite ready for the learning and homework part. Summer seemed to go by way to quickly for her.
Connor:
He has had some big changes over the past couple of weeks. First we have started working on potty training. He is only wearing a diaper at naptime (and that is only if he doesn't take it off) and at bedtime. The rest of the day he is in underwear. He does really good a going pee on the toilet when he is reminded, but he is not quite where he will tell you yet. And he has yet to poop on the toilet. He will go in his underwear and then most of the time he will come and tell you about it. But, that is okay, I think he is right on track for where he should be. I am really enjoying this time with him. His second big thing is that he lost his sassa (pacifier) just about a week ago. She he has been without if cold turkey. The first couple of days were really hard with him crying and asking for it, but these last few days have not been too bad. It may have been just what he needed. Other than those two things there is nothing to big going on with him.
Laci:
Lastly there is me. Could this be like all the photos in the photo album where you never see the person taking the pictures. I could talk about everyone else and skip me? I have been working hard with the kids and their different activities. I have also been getting more active in my moms group MOPS. I am the publicity coordinator and that is requiring a bit of time to get the year started off. I have been singing in the Praise Band at church, but am thinking of taking a break from that once the baby comes. I have 4 1/2 weeks until my due date and things are going well there. I have gotten all the baby clothes and blankets washed, now all we need is a baby. I have been working on sewing some baby shower gifts for some friends of mine this past week. I will post about that later on.
Family:
Everyone (not including me) got haircuts tonight. I had given Brian one when I was 9 months pregnant with Connor and it did not turn out too well. I don't know if it was the big belly or the hormones, but we agreed we would never do that again. So tonight was supposed to save him from the 9 month haircut, no troubles tonight. Connor was very excited to get his hair cut, but as soon as he was done he was not too happy. When he saw all the hair on the floor he started to get upset so we tried to get him excited by looking in the mirror. When he did that he kept saying that his hair was broken. We had to get him excited by offering a little dish of ice cream (bribery is okay right?). I took about two inches off of Angela's hair and now she will be ready for heading back to school. We have been camping onces this summer, but are planning on going out Labor Day weekend. Will let you know how that turns out then. Just started making plans with some friends who will be coming out to visit us at the end of September. It will be the first friends to visit us here and we are so super excited for the visit, Yeah to the Galloway's!!

Well that should be all with us for now. Have a great week everyone. God Bless.

Evening Fun

Last night after dinner we were trying to figure out what to do. It was pretty warm still so we decided to go to the lake for an hour to an hour and a half. What a great choice, it was a lot of fun. Brian is stuck in a book right now so he sat on the beach and read. Connor had a blast playing in the shallow water, digging in the sand and then walking out until he could get absolutely no farther and then jumping back to me. Angela spent a lot of her time underwater. She brought her goggles and really liked looking at the fish. She kept trying to catch one but of course that never worked out. The water was a perfect temperature for the heat outside and it was a wonderful way to spend the evening.

Here is Connor playing under the lifeguard chair. Angela is one of the three way out in the distance. She was never close enough or above water long enough for a good photo. Lastly is a pregnancy profile, I've had a few people ask to see this so enjoy.

The Pod Swaddler Pattern GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Pod Swaddler Pattern GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!
I love the patterns. I am due in six weeks and I think this would be perfect. Plus, I have seven friends who are due within the next six months and I see baby shower gifts written all over these!

Cookie Quiz

Each of our homes has some sort of "thing" about them. I have one friend whose home looks like a spread from Better Homes and Gardens. Another where piles of clutter are on every surface. Another that you can never see the floor due to kids toys. Another that I wonder how and where the kids get to be, because you never see a sign of them. While when I was in WA my "thing" was a full cookie jar. My father and sister-in-law would come over and as they were saying hello they were walking to see what sort of cookies were in the jar that day. They were extremely disappointed if it was empty. This started when Brian and I decided that I should quit working and stay at home full time. Brian's only stipulation to this arrangement was that I keep the cookie jar full. I have done pretty well over the past four years, if I do say so myself. I know I am not perfect, but we have cookies a lot! The time in the camper was the hardest, but I have gotten back into the swing of things since we have been in the house. Now to my blog title: Cookie Quiz. I have hit a rut of making peanut butter cookies and snickerdoodles a lot. I recently made chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips and I also made some spice cookies. Now, what else should I make. I was hoping that everyone who reads this could respond with one or two cookie options and then I could really get baking. Just remember, everyone is invited to come and stay with us at anytime and who knows maybe your cookie suggestion will be filling the jar!